Black sorghum is one of the rarest grains we sell. Ours comes from a single research farm in Vega, Texas, about 35 miles from our mill, where it grows in small plots alongside other sorghum varieties. It reaches you as whole berries, so you mill it fresh when you’re ready to bake.
Its black bran gets its color from a rare relative of the pigments that color blueberries. Milled fine, it makes a dark, purple-gray flour with a deep, earthy flavor. It’s naturally gluten-free, and it turns pancakes, muffins, cookies, brownies, and crackers a striking dark color. Cooked whole, the berries stay chewy and hold their shape in soups, pilafs, and grain salads.
How to Bake with Black Sorghum Flour
Sorghum has no gluten, so it won’t rise or stretch the way wheat does. For yeast bread, replace up to a quarter of the wheat flour with black sorghum for color and depth. For gluten-free baking, pair it with eggs, psyllium, or xanthan gum to hold it together, and let batters rest a few minutes so the flour can absorb the liquid. It pairs well with chocolate, molasses, and warm spices.
Black Sorghum Berries at a Glance
- Black Sorghum Berries, whole grain, food grade.
- Mill into flour for baking, or cook whole for salads, pilafs, and soups.
- 7.5 lb bags are vacuum sealed with a nitrogen flush. The 15 lb size ships as two 7.5 lb bags.
- 2.5 lb size comes in a recycled kraft paper bag with a plant-based PLA liner.
- For the most nutrition and freshness, mill your own flour.
- Naturally gluten-free grain, packed in a facility that also handles wheat.
- Non-GMO and glyphosate free.
- Backed by our 100% Satisfaction Money-Back Guarantee.
The Story of Black Sorghum
Black sorghum gets its color from the sun. As the grain ripens, sunlight triggers the bran to build a rare class of pigments that turn the kernels from red to black. Cattle feeders never wanted it, but cereal scientists did. Sorghum breeders at Texas A&M began developing black sorghum hybrids for the table in 2012. They yield far less than ordinary sorghum and are grown only in small amounts, so there is never much to go around. Researchers continue to study its pigments, which hold their color better than most plant pigments and are being explored as natural food colorants.
Black Sorghum or Onyx?
You may have seen black sorghum sold as Onyx. Onyx is a brand name for black sorghum grown under a licensed program. Ours is black sorghum grown outside that program, so we sell it under the grain’s own name.
Whole Berries for Your Home Mill
This is a single-origin grain, not a blend. You know what it is, you know where it grew, and you decide when it becomes flour. Whole berries keep far longer than flour, and our nitrogen-flushed 7.5 lb bags push out the oxygen insects need. Keep a supply on hand, mill what you need, and bake with flour that’s minutes old instead of flour that sat on a shelf.
- Single Origin: Black sorghum from one research farm in Vega, Texas.
- Built for Home Milling: Clean, whole berries ready for your home mill.
